Cap for children



CAP FOR CHILDREN Filed Sept. 19, 1949 INVENTOR. AARON FOTHCHILD.

QWQZW ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 21, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CAP FOR CHILDREN Aaron Rothchild, New York, N. Y. Application September 19, 1949, Serial No. 116,452

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to a novelty cap for children.

The principal object of this invention is the provision of a novelty cap for children which simulates in appearance the head and face of a natural being, such as an animal, and wherein the eyes comprise a pair of electric light bulbs which light up when the Visor or brim is pressed or squeezed, as when the cap is removed from the head for tipping and the like. The cap includes a lining which is separable therefrom at least in one area so that access may be had to the space between the cap proper and said lining. Between the cap proper and the lining is a dry cell battery which is supported by means of a bracket which is fastened to the inside of the cap proper. Another bracket supports the two electric light bulbs which protrude through openings in the cap, said openings corresponding to the eye openings of the simulated face. A switch is mounted between the lining and the visor or brim of the cap, and it is suitably connected by means of electrical conductors to the source of the electric current which is the dry cell battery and to the two electric light bulbs.

All of the aforementioned electrical apparatus is concealed between the cap proper and its lining. Access may be had to the space between the cap and its lining, as has above been indicated, so that the dry cell battery may be replaced after its energy has been exhausted. The location of the switch immediately below the visor is quite advantageous. When the wearer of the cap wishes to remove it from his head, for

tipping purposes or the like, he will normally be expected to grip the visor for that purpose. This would give him the opportunity of pressing the switch button to close the switch and thereby to light up the electric light bulbs which constitute the eyes of the simulated face, without revealing the method whereby this is accomplished. It is, in effect, a trick cap, in addition to being a novelty cap, since it is not only its appearance which is startlingly novel, but its modus operandi is sufficiently tricky to delude onlookers.

A preferred form of this invention is shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front or face view of a novelty cap made in accordance with the present invention, the cap being formed to simulate the face and head of a gorilla.

Fig. 2 is a side view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a View looking upwardly into the cap with its lining removed to expose the electrical apparatus.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section on the line 44 of Fig. 1, showing the construction of the cap and also showing how it rests upon the head of a child.

Figs. 1 and 2 are views showing how cap I0 which is made in accordance with the present invention looks from the outside. It is formed to simulate the face and head of a gorilla but this, of course, is merely illustrative of the present invention, and the cap may be formed to simulate the face and head of other natural beings, such as other animals.

In its preferred form, the cap proper H is made of pressed felt which is shaped to simulate the facial features and part of the head of a gorilla. Thus it is provided with a simulated upper jaw [2, a nose I3, cheeks l4, eyes l5, a ridge 15 above the eyes and a head H. The brim or visor of the cap comprises the upper jaw l2 and a forwardly extending flange 18 which may be taken as simulating the upper lip of the animal. The head and cheek lines and configurations are such as to adapt the cap to receive the head 20 of the wearer.

The cap may or may not be provided with a sweat band or its equivalent but it should have a lining 2!. This lining may cover the entire inside structure of the hat and it should also extend across the visor. The lining may be fastened to the cap proper by means of stitching 22 and 23 or by any other suitable means. It should, however, be detached or detachable from the cap proper in at least one location so that access may be had to the inside of the cap, that is to the space between the cap proper and its said lining. The lining is intended to serve the usual purpose of cap and hat linings, but in addition it is designed to prevent direct contact between the head of the wearer and the electrical apparatus which the cap carries, and it is further designed to conceal said apparatus and especially the switch mechanism thereof in order to conceal the working parts and methods of operation thereof from spectators.

It has been stated that the cap proper, in its preferred form, is made of pressed felt. This is purely illustrative of the many materials which may be used in the making of this novelty cap, and the method of pressing the material to proper shape is also purely illustrative of the many methods which may be utilized to give the material its finished shape and appearance.

The eyes l5 of the gorilla-shaped cap herein claimed are a pair of electric light bulbs of the flashlight variety which project through the eye openings in the simulated face. These electric light bulbs are supported by means of a bracket or plate 25 which has two threaded holes to receive the threaded contact sleeves of said bulbs. Bracket 25 has a clip 26 connected thereto which is mountable upon a dry cell type of electric battery 2'1. The battery is supported by a bracket 28 which is affixed to the inside of the cap proper. In the form of invention shown in the drawing, this bracket 28 includes a pair of contact plates 29 and 30, respectively, which project downwardly to engage and hold the two ends of the dry cell. The dry cell and its supporting bracket have been placed very conveniently in the recess which is formed on the inside of the ridge above the eyes.

A switch 32 is afiixed to the inside of the cap proper and more especially within the recess which is formed on the inside of the upper jaw or lip l2. Any suitable switch may be used, but in the preferred form of this invention, a simple switch comprising a fixed contact member 33 and a spring type of movable contact member 34, is employed.

The movable contact member is so situated that it may be pressed against the fixed contact memher when the visor oi the cap is grasped to remove the cap from the wearers head. Ordinarily, it would be the thumb that would engage the bottom of the visor and it would accordingly be the thumb which would, by the same token, engage a the movable contact member to press it against the fixed contact member and thereby close the circuit. This, of course, would be done indirectly in the sense that the lining is interposed between the switch and the thumb, and it is necessary to press the lining against the movable contact member in order to press said movable contact member into engagement with the fixed contact member.

Fig. 3 discloses the electrical circuit of the.

apparatus above described. Bracket member 29 engages one end of the dry cell battery, and it serves as an electrical conductor with respect thereto. A wire 36 connects bracket 28 to fixed contact member 33 of the switch. A second wire 31 connects the movable contact member 34 to bracket 25 which supports the two light bulbs. Bracket 25 is also a conductor which engages the shells of the two bulbs. A third wire 38 is soldered to the centrally disposed contacts of said bulbs, and it is also connected to bracket member 30 which engages the opposite end of the dry cell battery and acts as a conductor relative thereto. When the switch is open, the circuit to both bulbs is open, when the switch is closed, the circuit to bothbulbs is similarly closed. Nonetheless, the circuits to the two bulbs are suiiiciently distinct from each other so that the circuit to either bulb may be closed even though the other bulb may be blown out.

It will be appreciated that the foregoing is descriptive of but one form of this invention, and that other forms may behad withinthe broad scope and coverage of the invention. For example, colored electric light bulbs may be provided in place of the white or colorless bulbs shown in the drawing. Two red bulbs simulating two red eyes would certainly produce a dramatic efiect. The normally open switch of the present invention is very satisfactory for the purposes of the invention, but it may be found desirable to incorporate a switch of conventional construction which is neither normally open or normally closed but which will remain either open or closed when placed in such condition, until such time as its condition is manually changed. Thus a switch which could remain closed until manually opened would be a desirable feature to enable the wearer of the cap to utilize the electric light bulbs for the purpose of lighting up the way on a dark night, or as warning signals to automobilists.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

An article of head gear comprising a cap having a visor and shaped to simulate the face and part of the head of a natural being and having an upwardly protruding brow, said visor simulating the upper lip and jaw thereof, a pair of electric light bulbs mounted in said cap and serving as the eyes of the face which said cap simulates, a bracket secured to the undersurface of said cap within said protruding brow, a pair of contact plates on said bracket extending downwardly to engage the ends of a dry cell, a dry cell battery removably supported within said cap between said contact plates and used within said protruding brow, a normally open switch supported on the underside of the visor remote from and out of contact with the forehead of a wearer and in position to receive pressure of a wearers thumb as the visor is grasped in the act of tipping the cap, whereby the bulbs are illuminated as the cap is being raised, said switch comprising an electric insulator plate having secured thereto a fixed contact and a yieldably movable contact, electrical conductors interconnecting said battery, bulbs and switch, whereby the circuit to the bulbs is open when the switch is open and closed when the switch is closed, and a. lining which is fastened to the underside of the visor and to the underside of the cap to conceal said switch, battery and electrical conductors from view and to prevent direct contact of said switch, battery and electric conductors with the head of the wearer, said lining being detachable from said cap at least in part to provide for access to the underside of the cap so that the battery may be replaced when desired.

AARON ROTI-ICHILD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 737,371 Duket Aug. 25, 1903 2,203,028 Parrillo June 4, 1940 2,258,531 Baldwin Oct. 7, 1941 

